


Of Legends and Myths

by Gatherer_of_Clouds



Series: Of Legends and Myths [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Mertalia, OCs are used for world building, Pirates, Pre-Relationship, Probably the slowest burn you will ever read, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22449616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gatherer_of_Clouds/pseuds/Gatherer_of_Clouds
Summary: Book/Part One: Everyone in the kingdom of Atlantis thought humans were just a fantasy. Just another legend. Just like the one about the locket. For better or for worse Prince Alfred finds out that this is not the case, and rescues a lone human adrift at sea. Unfortunately, their troubles have only just begun, and it’s going to take more then dumb luck to make it out of this alive.*Indefinite Hiatus*
Relationships: America/Japan (Hetalia), Canada/Ukraine (Hetalia), England/France (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia), Greece/Turkey (Hetalia)
Series: Of Legends and Myths [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732846
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Knights Templar- Elijah  
> Germania- Aldrich  
> Rome- Spartacus

THIS STORY IS ON INDEFINITE HIATUS. MAY BE DISCONTINUED.

This story starts out with mentions of religious stuff, but it‘s not that important to the story. With that out of the way, enjoy!

.

.

.

It was a warm spring day, in a small town by the sea. Flowers bloomed and a gentle breeze brushed through people’s hair. Most children would love to be running around outside or at least be outside at all. However, unfortunately for them, it was Sunday. Everyone was stuffed inside the old chapel that had stood there longer then any of them or even their great grandparents had been alive. It was sweltering in there because of all the candles illuminating the space. 

The church itself was a sight to behold. The white marble glowed brightly under the light of the candles, and rainbows of colors were mounted on the walls in the form of stained glass. In the center was an small alter upon which the old priest was giving a sermon on the gospel that had just been read aloud.

The children, even the older ones that had learned patience, were struggling to sit still and not whisper to one another. However, three in the back, all siblings, had given into the temptation long ago when their mother left with their crying baby sister. 

Why should they care about something that happened so long ago, and so far away from their tiny village? The lessons made sense, be nice and don’t do bad things. It was all stuff their parents told them before. However, they just didn’t see what a mustard seed had to do with Heaven or a how a camel would fit through the eye of a needle.

Finally mass was over, and once the priest said to go in peace, they ran out of the church ignoring the yelling from their mother. Just when they thought they were in the clear, they ran smack into Brother Elijah.

Brother Elijah was beloved by everyone in town, for his beautiful voice, his gentle deposition, and because of how he would help everyone with anything they needed. He was just out of his teenage years, with soft blonde hair and bangs that looked like a bird’s wing. He seemed to have stars in his eyes, and even when he wasn’t singing, his voice was soft and melodic. However, this didn’t stop them from being frightened and abashed. There wasn’t a soul in town who was more devoted to prayer and religion then he.

“Sorry, Brother.” The youngest said blushing.

“We’ll watch where we’re going next time.” The oldest said scuffing his foot against the ground.

“It’s alright,” he pulled the middle child off the ground, “I’m glad to be out too. That old chapel can get a bit to stuffy. I’ll have to ask Father David if we can hold mass outside next week. Perhaps it will help you pay attention more?” His soft voice teased.

“Oh there you are! You three are in big trouble. I hope they haven’t given you trouble, Brother.”

“Not at all! In fact they were just coming with me. That is, if you don’t have places to be.” The children were puzzled, but kept their mouths shut. If Brother Elijah needed their help, anything he would want them to do would be so much better then one of their mother’s punishments. So their mother bid them fair well with a warning that they had better be back by lunch.

Together, the children followed him through the town, until the came to the edge of the Sleepy Woods. He pulled his robe up to his knees and trucked right on in. The children looked at each other in confusion, and followed him in. After a short while they came to a clearing with a gigantic weeping willow at the center, and a wooden bench underneath it. Wildflowers grew dispersed through out the grass, and mockingbirds sang peaceful songs to each other in the treetops.

“What is this place?” The youngest asked in amazement and awe.

“This is where I come to pray and sing,” They stood in wonder as small yellow bird landed on one of his fingers.

“But can’t you only pray in church or around a table?” The middle child asked, eyes transfixed on the bird. Elijah laughed and the bird flew on to his head and nested in his hair.

“Of course not! God will listen anytime you pray. No matter where you are, or how you pray. Did you know that you can pray while singing?” The children shook their heads and tried not to roll their eyes. They’d dearly hoped they hadn’t escaped one mass only to end up in another.

“Brother, why did you bring us here? Are you just gonna talk about God and praying the whole time?” The youngest asked only to be elbowed in her ribs by the oldest.

“No,” he chuckled, “well a little, I suppose. You know, most of what Jesus said was a story so that the people he was preaching to could understand.”

“Yeah, but those stories were so long ago and boring, and I don’t see what they have to do with anything,” The middle one crossed his arms and the other two nodded in agreement.

“What if I told you a better story? One that maybe you’d understand.”

“What’s the point? What are you trying to teach us? To pay attention during mass?” He asked and Elijah shrugged.

“I’m not sure. There are many things you could learn from a story like this,” His eyes glowed and shimmered in the morning light that came through the hanging branches of the willow, “It’s a tale that I’m sure you’ve never heard of before,” his hands rose into the air, “However, I’m sure you’ve heard of the merfolk before,” they nodded, “and how they like to stay away from humans. Well, as with any group of people, there tends to be a few who,” he paused to think, “don’t fit into the mold. You see, merfolk have kingdoms and royalty, just like we do, and there used to be a single kingdom united into one, and made up of thirteen tribes. Each of the tribes chose a king and queen to represent them. Together they governed their territory under the waves,” he hummed, “you know, back then, many more people could use magic.”

“Magic isn’t real! Our uncle told us so!” The youngest interrupted.

“Is it?” He asked and plucked a leaf off he tree. He placed it into the palm of his hand, and suddenly, it flew upwards, and twirled in different directions. Finally, it flew up once more and reattached itself to the tree.

“How did you do that?” The oldest jumped up.

“Magic. Now be still and listen, I have more to tell you,” the three children pried their eyes away from the branch to meet Elijah’s gaze once more, “One year, a terrible plague ran a mock through the kingdom. Anyone who contracted it would slowly loose control of their body, until they were paralyzed, and,” he frowned, “it ultimately killed them,” the children gasped.

“Couldn’t their doctors give them medicine, Brother Elijah?” The youngest asked, “That’s what our mom does when we get sick.”

“It wasn’t a really a sickness, but a curse. Placed upon the kingdom by a sea witch,”

“Who was the sea witch?”

“Why did she curse them?”

“Was she a mermaid?”

“That’s a story for another day, I’m afraid,” he rubbed the back of his head, and almost knocked the bird off, “Now hush!” He said, not unkindly, “Don’t you want to know what happens?” He smiled, and they nodded vigorously.

“Well, the kingdom gathered together the boldest warriors and the most powerful mages to find the sea witch and defeat her to break the curse. It is said that together, as a team, they overcame every obstacle thrown at them by the sea witch. It took them over a year, but they did it, they found her lair,” he paused to catch his breath.

“But that’s it, right? They defeated her, and everyone lived happily ever after and no one else got sick, right?”

“Not quite. You see, the mages and the warriors couldn’t bring her down. No matter what spells the mages cast, the sea witch’s were stronger. No matter how quick and fierce the warriors fought, she countered and struck them back. One by one they were all struck down until 8 merfolk remained. With wounded prides and bodies, and hearts filled with grief for their fallen comrades they fled and hid. While tending to their injuries, they realized that, they could only defeat her if they combined their strength and organized an attack. For a few months, they planned their attack. The warriors made new weapons and armor. The mages made new charms and spells. Together they trained and perfected their plan. Confident, they went back to her lair, and, this time by attacking together, even though their number was a fraction of what it once was, they overwhelmed the sea witch, and defeated her. They trapped her residual magic in the locket of the youngest and purest mage. Together they swam the journey back to their kingdom, and under the command of the 26 rulers, the young mage used her locket to break the curse. The mage discovered that not only could she break the curse with the sea witch’s magic, but she could solve so many other problems also, and it naturally boosted the wearer’s magic. Well, many years past and all but the youngest of the 8 heroes passed away, and on the thrones sat new kings and queens. They argued over who should have possession of the now old mage and the locket. Each feared that if they didn’t possess it, their people would be conquered or beneath those who had it on their side. Each set of rulers came to the older mage. Some implored her to give them the locket. Others threatened her to come with the or else. And oh how they argued!

‘It should be us who possess it! She hailed from our tribe in the first place!’ One king yelled.

‘Why should you have it? She has lived in amongst our people for the past 2 years!’ Another queen screamed.

Finally, the mage had enough.

‘Silence!’ She cried, ‘You are unworthy of this power! You know not what it took to receive it, and until you work together, no one shall have it!’ In a blinding light she was gone. In her place was a puzzle box, and a golden key. The rulers did not heed her advice, and each scrambled for the box and key. This sparked a war, and the formerly powerful kingdom crumbled to the ground by their own hands. Although the box and key were lost soon after the start of it, the thirteen tribes split further and further apart until they formed their own kingdoms. Generations have passed since then, and this story is thought of by most to be just a legend,” He said while looking far into the distance, “What do you think you could learn from this story?”

“We gotta work together?” The youngest bounced up and down excitedly.

“Magic is real?” The middle child shrugged.

“Power gets to people’s heads.” The oldest answered.

“Yes, yes, and yes. Stories and songs are a wonderful thing, don’t you think?” The children shrugged, “Well, you better go, I don’t want to keep you from lunch!” The older two jumped up and began on their way back, but the little one lingered.

“Brother Elijah?” The youngest tugged his arm, “Do you think that maybe we’ll find the locket and the magical powers?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you have any more stories like that? Your’s are better then Father David’s.” He bent down and pat her head.

“If you want to hear another one, all you have to do is ask, and if I’m not in the church or helping someone out,” he gestured to the little clearing, “I’m here.” 

“Thank you!” The small girl hugged him, and ran to catch up her siblings who already started walking into the tree line. Elijah smiled and reached up into his hair for the little yellow bird. The bird climbed into his hand and hopped around, peeping at him.

“I have to go now, friend. I have to make sure they get back safely, but perhaps I shall return later to sing some more,” he stroked the bird’s chest, and then let it fly away.

Sometimes, in the darkest times of his life, he would think of that legend, and he knew deep down that somewhere out there the locket lay waiting for the right group of people, a team, to find it. Elijah turned his gaze away from the sky, and quickly walked away from the bench and tree into the woods, leaving the clearing as empty as it had been before.


	2. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a thought that what if in this AU, Matthew was the one who was noticed (and loved) by everyone and Alfred was ignored. Canada needs some time in the spotlight.

They say that fate is a cruel mistress. Prince Alfred certainly never agreed more with that saying until now. His life had been perfect. Or at least, as perfect as one’s could be. It had its ups and downs, but all in all, his life had been idealistic. 

He and his twin brother, Matthew, were the princes of Atlantis. Atlantis was such a magnificent city. Of course, Alfred may have been biased. He was very patriotic after all. It had sprawling coral reefs filled with multitudes of colors and species. Together the Atlantians lived along side the fish, dolphins, turtles, eels, and the other creatures of the deep. In the spaces between coral, homes, shops, and other buildings were sprinkled throughout the reef, and in the largest spaces where the coral broke up, there were plazas, where parties and festivals would be held, peddlers would sell small trinkets and handmade crafts, or even simple games of catch between the younger merchildren would occur. Of course, more often than not, when they had free time, most children would play and adventure through the thicker parts of the coral. Alfred would know. It was his favorite activity when he was younger after all, especially when he dragged his brother along with him.

Deep in the coral reef he could pretend he was a hero. One who defeated dastardly villains and rescued helpless citizens and creatures. More then anything, that’s what he wanted. Whenever he’d loudly exclaim it, most would roll their eyes, and call him things behind his back. Never to his face, because of his status. He just pretended to be oblivious to it. It was easier that way. 

Besides, it wasn’t just adventuring through the undersea thicket and playing pretend that was fun. It was the other kids there that made it his home more so then the castle had ever or will ever be. Gilbert was a few years older then him, so when he overheard him telling his younger brother Ludwig, he was going to sneak out and meet his friends, Alfred was entranced by the idea, and of course demanded to come with him. Then, of course, he brought Matthew along for the ride. 

Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio were an iconic trio, and Alfred, despite his claims to be the one and only hero and the fact that they were four years older then him, looked up to the older boys. Together, they would play, and get into mischief and mishaps in and out of the coral.

Then, at the end of the day or when the guards came to drag them back, he and his brother would come home to their parents, the King and Queen. Of course, their mother would scold them for being out so long. Usually, it was directed more so at him. After all of that when Matthew would simply nod, Alfred would storm off, and his father would pick him up and swing him around until he couldn’t keep pouting anymore.

“Alfred,” he would say in a deep raspy voice, “your mother doesn’t mean to upset you. We know how happy playing with your friends makes you, but she is right about one thing. One day, our reign will come to an end, and Matthew will be king,” Alfred had always known that Matthew would be king. He was a minute older after all, “and you,” he tilted the young boy’s head up to meet his soft gaze, “you will help him and the future Queen.”

“But I wanna be a hero, dad! I don’t wanna just sit around while Mattie does all the hard work!” He laughed and ran his webbed fingers through his wheat blonde hair.

“I’m sure you will find your own way to help the kingdom, Alfred. It is only a matter of time.”

Time. With time, his perfect life slowly began to unravel before his blue eyes. He and his friends began to grow up, and their different social standings started cause more and more trouble.

Somewhere along the line, Ludwig and Matthew “grew up”. It seemed a switch flipped. Ludwig stopped sneaking out to play with them, and even tattled on Alfred, Matthew, and Gilbert. He became more serious and stern, “Just like our dad.” He recalled overhearing Gilbert saying to Antonio at some point. He dove head first into training to be a part of the Royal Guard, and rarely did anything else. Suddenly rules were so important to him, and he and Gilbert got into an argument, after argument, after argument. 

Matthew was more polite about it. Alfred couldn’t blame his brother. Matthew was very anxious, but despite popular belief, wasn’t shy, just quiet. He wanted to be learn how to be the best king possible. So, he only ever gave Alfred a sigh when he knew he was sneaking out into the coral reef. In turn, when Alfred wasn’t hanging out or causing trouble with the older boys, he would do his best to help Matthew in any way he could, but what he did was so small, and he didn’t want to be doing just this for the rest of his life.

It was only him and the three older boys after that, and suddenly he felt like an outsider. It wasn’t that way for long though. Soon, Lemiar, another kingdom, declared war. It wasn’t surprising because tensions between the two kingdoms had be growing stronger over the course of Alfred’s lifetime. Most likely longer. 

One night in their favorite meeting spot, the older boys, who at that point were all 18, broke news to Alfred that would shatter his hopes of getting their little club back together.

“Alfred we can’t stay here.”

“They’re gonna come for us, and we don’t want to fight in this stupid war.”

Alfred was very mad at them, but he tried to swallow it. He’d wanted to help in the fighting, but he wasn’t old enough, and even if he was, his parents wouldn’t let him. The kingdom “needed” him.

So, after that, he hadn’t seen hide nor scale of them. They’d disappeared, and what was worse, people in the castle would talk about what a huge disappointment Gilbert was. His family did nothing to stop the rumors from spreading. Alfred was very agitated by it. He would’ve rather overheard them talking about how much of brat he was and how glad they were that Matthew was going to be king.

That was six years ago, and people had stopped mentioning their names, he and Ludwig hadn’t had a real conversation since, and Matthew was going to be crowned king in a week’s time. The war had gotten worse, just like his father’s health. Thankfully, the war was being fought on on unoccupied territory, but every day there was news of the fighting growing ever closer. However, there was nothing Alfred could do about that or his father. 

It was terrible. Watching someone you love, who cared for you, and who believed in you when no one else would is perhaps one of the cruelest punishments of all time. His father once had bright eyes, now they were permanently glazed over and sunk back into his skull. His tale was turning gray. What once been a dark blue and green, was now dulled to the point of being unrecognizable. In addition he was rapidly loosing weight, and was terribly skinny. It wasn’t fair, and what made it worse was that his people had already given up on him, and demanded Matthew to be crowned and married earlier then the traditional age of 25.

Alfred was pulled out his reminiscing by a throaty cough from in front of him. He froze and sat as still as possible. It hadn’t woken his father yet. Good. He needed rest. Alfred took one more look at his father’s pale, taut face had swam out of the room.

He thought about going to the reef, but ultimately decided against it. He’d spent more time with his ailing father then he originally intended, and he had to get ready for the ball in a few hours. He looked in the mirror, and ran a fish bone comb through his messy hair. One piece stuck up as usual, but he wasn’t in the mood to mess with it tonight. He blew a raspberry at it and continued to get ready by putting on jewel studded vambraces and his crown. Lastly, he took off a small chain that hung around his neck. On the chain was an ornate golden key that was about the size of his thumb. It was a gift from his father. His father had found the key while swimming through the castle’s gardens one day, and showed it to him. Alfred was enamored by the key, and his father told him that it must unlock something important. After that he spent weeks trying to unlock every lock he could find with it. Of course, nothing happened, and his mother scolded his father for filling Alfred’s head with “childish fantasies”. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t take it off, but he wasn’t in the mood to get in an argument with his mother tonight. After all, tonight, like many other events, was supposed about Matthew not him.

Alfred placed the key down on his dresser and gave it a small pat before leaving the room.


	3. 2

The surface of the sea was smooth. The sky was placid and sans clouds. There was a gentle breeze, and the late afternoon sun shone shyly down causing the sea to glow and sparkle. A large ship cut through the glassy surface, leaving white foam in its wake. Everyone on the ship seemed to be in a good mood, and they sang an old chanty as they worked. Perhaps it was the weather. However, one sailor with raven black hair had a creeping feeling of unease. He couldn’t be sure what was putting him on edge, but he had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. His face didn’t betray this though, he held a neutral expression throughout the morning. He took of his hat and ran a pale hand through his sweat sodden hair. 

“Maybe I just need rest,” he said to himself. Then he let his mind wander to an old friend of his with olive eyes and curly brown hair, and how, no matter the situation, he could relax and inevitably drift off to sleep. He wondered how he was doing and where he was now, and eventually the feeling of foreboding left his immediate thoughts.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, the Abyssian royal family and some of their guards arrived at the front of the castle. Abyssi was a very isolated kingdom located in a deep trench. Most Atlantians had never seen an Abyssian before, and as such many merfolk were curious of their new guests. The most contact they’d have was through letters. However, writing letters was enough for Matthew to fall, and fall hard, for Princess Katyusha. Which, Alfred supposed, was a good thing. If the Abyssians agreed to an aliance with them, the next logical step to seal the deal would be for Katyusha and Matthew to get married.

“Welcome to our kingdom. My husband is rueful and apologizes for being unable to attend, however he has been feeling unwell recently,” unwell was putting it lightly, “and we wouldn’t want to pass his illness on to you,” The Queen came forward, and her violet tail trailed gracefully behind her. On her head she wore a crown of shells and gold which held back her dirty blonde hair. She turned to Alfred and Matthew, “These are my sons, Prince Matthew,” Matthew bowed his head, “and Prince Alfred,” she sent a glare Alfred’s way and he too dipped his head rather than offering his usual enthusiastic greeting.

“We are most honored for your hospitality. It is very unfortunate that we can’t meet his majesty today, but if all goes well, perhaps we will be dining together soon,” The Abyssian king extended his hand and they shook. His flowing hair and beard were a soft gray, and his hope filled eyes were black as coal. His tale was a gun metal gray that swished calmly as he was talking, “this is my wife, and my daughter Princess Katyusha.” The Abyssian queen and princess bowed their heads and smiled. 

“I presume your journey has been a tiring one. Let us show you to your rooms so you can relax before tonight.” With that, the royal families swam inside the castle, followed swiftly by the guards. The current king and queens swam in the front, with Matthew and Katyusha closely behind. Alfred swam behind them trying not to throw up because of all the sweet things they were whispering to each other.

Thankfully, after what felt like hours of torment, they arrived and the Abyssian royalty and their servants filled into their suite.

Katyusha leaned over when her parents were in the room, and gave Matthew a kiss on the cheek. 

“My people weren’t all to eager to make an alliance with you Atlantians, because that would mean ending our isolation. In many ways that scared my subjects, but I hope this works out. It would be most beneficial for us all,” she whispered, “You really should take more pride in yourself Matthew, your absolutely adorable!” She said louder beaming.

“I-I thanks,” Matthew blushed and, Alfred felt very awkward, like he didn’t belong. A feeling he got a lot, but hoped he masked well.

“See you tonight!” Katyusha backed into the room and winked. Then she closed the door leaving a flabbergasted Matthew in it’s wake.

.

.

.

Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. The raven haired man really should’ve listened to that funny feeling in his gut, but as always, he’s pushed the feeling down and kept his nose to the grindstone.

What had once been an azure sky was now jet black, painted over by storm clouds. Heavy sheets of rain pelted down in torrents, striking the sailors in their face and arms. Thunder boomed and the only light came from the unpredictable flash of lightning. The ocean was as dark and ominous as the sky, and seemed to be as hungry as a starving man, clawing desperately at the sides of the ship pulling men and cargo alike under never to be seen again.

He briefly wondered what he could have done if he had paid attention to it. However, he deep down he knew he couldn’t have done anything. So, he grit his teeth, said a prayer, and pulled on the frayed rope harder.

.

.

.

All the noble mermen and mermaids in Atlantis would soon be in this very hall. It hadn’t been this decorated in years. Colorful glowing crystals lined the pearly walls. A large table was off to the left side with delicate and beautiful foods piled on top of it. Seaweed streamers were hung up by starfish on the windows to the outside.

Servants were dashing in and out with the final touches, and once they all were out, Alfred snuck in. The hall however, wasn’t completely empty, a merman with auburn hair and a strange curl on the left side was by the table humming to himself.

“Feliciano, what are you doing here dude?” Alfred asked. He screamed in surprise, and started to rapid fire excuses about why he was here.

“Chill out, dude. It’s me,” Alfred put up his hands in a mock surrender, “technically I’m not supposed to be here either,” Feliciano opened his amber eyes.

“Ve. Prince Alfred it’s only you!”

“What are you doing here exactly?”

“I thought that I could make something for the party,” he held out his hands. He was holding a large bowl full of kelp pasta and shrimp, “I know I’m not supposed to, but I’m no good at fighting,” he lowered his head, “I wanted to give something worthwhile. Will you tell me if people like it? And you won’t say anything about it being mine?”

“I’m sure they’ll love it! As a hero, it is my job to never lie. Unless it‘s for a good cause!” He puffed out his chest, and Feliciano breathed a huge sigh of relief, “You better hurry,” he glanced over his shoulder, “Ludwig’ll come looking for you soon.”

“Thank you!” He placed the bowl down, and hugged Alfred. “I’ll be seeing you, Prince Alfred,” he said and rushed out of the hall. Alfred watched him go and frowned. 

Feliciano was right. He was no good at anything involving violence. He was much better at making art, cooking, and ironically, considering he made plenty of messes, cleaning. Unfortunately for him, he was Spartacus’ son, and despite his father’s unconditional love for him, he was fated to be in the guard as soon as he was born. It wasn’t fair, but then, life rarely was.

Alfred picked up a plate and different bits of food for his father, and himself, and left the hall with his pirated treasure.

.

.

.

People were screaming. The captain was barking orders. Thunder boomed ever louder. All the raven haired man could do was his part to keep the ship from going under.

Suddenly, a colossal wave rose up, from seemingly out of no where. The captain let loose a string of fowl words, and tried to turn the ship out of the way. However, it was too fast for him, and the salt water crashed on to the deck taking the mast out and nearly splitting the boat in half. The raven haired man jumped out of the way, nearly getting nicked by the falling mast. He slipped, and landed on his back. The wind was knocked out of him, and his lungs barely got a breath of salty air in when the captain started yelling again.

“This is fruitless, men! We’ve lost our mast to this storm. We have to abandon ship! Abandon ship!” He would’ve protested. There is no honor in what they would do, and even then, if the large ship couldn’t survive the storm, how would the little ones fair? 

Of course it was pointless to argue. No one would hear his soft timbre over the roaring thunder, and more water had sloshed into the ship. It would sink. 

He rolled over and shakily stood up. Blinded by the rain, he used the side of the ship to guide him. The raven haired man soon found one of the life boats and jumped in. Another man, many years older, followed him in, and cut the rope with a pocket knife.

The boat plummeted down into the animalistic waters. The raven haired man grabbed the oars and pushed away from the ship.

“Can you see the others?” He asked over the crashing waves.

“No, I can’t see a damn thing!” The other man yelled back in a rough voice, “just get us away from the ship, and let’s try to make it through the storm.”

The waves were worse on the flimsy life boat. The raven haired man held the oars with a death grip, lest the ocean take that from him too. He tried to steer the boat, but the waves were in control.

They were tossed around. The older man cursed and held on to the sides of the boat. The waters pushed them about chaotically. Soon, they got far enough away where the unrelenting rain obscured their view of the ship. Perhaps there was an umibōzu in the waters or a sea god was angered, but whatever the case the sea was deadly tonight, and it seemed that their luck ran out. The ship was pulled upwards by a black wave, and flipped over. 

The older man lost his grip and was tossed somewhere into the abyss. The raven haired man was blinded once more by the salt water, but even though his eyes stung, and his arms felt as though they’d taken a beating, he held on to the boat with all his might.

He pulled himself in, almost capsizing the boat again in the process. Shaking and shivering, he gripped the boat. The oars were lost. Now, he had even less control of the boat. He called the man’s name over and over again, but even if the man hadn’t been pulled under into the dark waters, he wouldn’t have been able to hear him.

The thunder, rain, and crashing water grew ever louder, and the raven haired man closed his eyes and tried to not let his grip weaken.


	4. 3

Alfred was about ready to start screaming. Not the way he normally did mind you, that was just him speaking loudly. No, full on bloody murder screaming. Fancy parties like this really weren’t his thing. He liked to have a great big blast, and this was anything but that.

Classical music played while noble and royal merfolk mingled and danced amongst each other. He was having trouble not falling asleep with each new note that passed from the lips of the instruments.

He didn’t really want to talk to anyone, with the exception of his father right now, but his mother, and it seemed like other people were too, was giving him the stink eye so he couldn’t continue trying to hide in the shadows. He wished he could be like Matthew. Matthew has the incredible ability to remain undetected in certain instances and practically disappear. So he swam around looking for someone who wasn’t in the middle of a conversation. Could he have butt in? Yeah probably, but what they were taking about was the new treaty with Abyssi and other boring stuff that should’ve been kept in the meeting room. This was a party dang it! People really needed to start acting like it.

“Prince Alfred!” Another merman swam up to him. He had unruly curly hair, amber eyes and tail, and toned skin.

“Captain Spartacus! What’s going on dude?” Neptune bless Spartacus. He and the older merman got along really well. He was one of the only people who didn’t expect him to act princely all the time. 

“Well, I just so happened to notice that pretty young lady your brother’s been dancing with all evening,” he flung his hand over to the center of the room where Matthew and Princess Katyusha danced together, “I didn’t expect Abyssian ladies to be so pretty. I guess I missed out!” He laughed, and put a hand on Alfred’s shoulder, “So, does she have any sisters?” 

“I don’t think so, sorry.” Alfred turned to meet his eyes again.

“I’m not asking for me! I’m asking for you, and for my little Feli!” Instinctively Alfred looked over to where Feliciano was chatting, or trying to, with Ludwig, who stood as still as a statue. Except for his left hand which at some point Feli grabbed as was swinging around as he blabbed.

“Don’t you agree?” He was snapped back to reality by a strangely serious Spartacus frowning in their direction as well.

“Uh sorry dude I wasn’t paying attention, could you repeat that?”

“I was saying how much potential he has in other areas, but because I’m the captain, he’s expected to follow in my path. As much as I’ve tried, he doesn’t have a single ounce of battle prowess like me,” he shook his head, “and as much as I hate to admit it, Ludwig over there seems to be just like Commander Aldrich.” He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “they wouldn’t know how to relax and have fun if it came up and bit them in their faces. Unlike me of course,” he posed, “I know how to do both, and quite well if you ask me!”

“I guess so.” Alfred shrugged thinking back to when he, Ludwig, and Feli were younger again.

“So I suppose, as much as I hate to say it, perhaps hanging out together will help both of them,” he looked back at them again and shook his head of curls, “If Feli seems to have inherited anything from me it’s my way with the ladies, but enough about that!” Just like that Spartacus regained his jovial spirit, “Tell me Prince Alfred, which of the pretty girls out there is keeping you company tonight?” Alfred scanned the crowd looking at all the young girls wishfully. Unlike Feliciano and Spartacus who just had to wink, and every girl within a ten meter radius would start blushing and giggling, he didn’t seem to have much luck in that department. He silence was apparently enough for Spartacus who hummed sympathetically.

“Ah. Well, you know, I’m sure you’ll find the lady who’ll swoon over you. If Aldrich found a girl to marry, so can you!”

“Thanks. I guess. This party is terrible,”

“You better get used to it. There’s going to be a lot more for you.”

“Don’t remind me. Why do I even need to be there?” He groaned.

“Same reason I have to. We’re here to look good. Of course, I look more then good,” He posed again, and frowned when Alfred didn’t mimic the action, “What’s your problem? You are acting oddly spacey and down today. Is it because you don’t have a beautiful lady to dance with? If that’s the case, Captain Spartacus will give you a crash course on lady killing!” He beamed.

“Actually I think I’m gonna head out for a bit. Would you mind covering for me if anyone notices?” he stretched a smile to ease his worry over him, “the hero is needed elsewhere!”

“Of course. Well, I guess I’ll just have to help you some other time. Tell your father I said hi! Ciao!”

“See ya!” It took a teensy bit of stealth, but Alfred believed that he’d snuck out undiscovered. With a silent cry of victory, he vanished. Behind him a swish of color disappeared behind a column in the otherwise still hall. Back in the ballroom, Ludwig had long since lost his patience with Feliciano. They were supposed to be standing guard, not fooling around.

“Will you shut it! We are supposed to be serious! With all these nobility and royal merfolk in here, we have to be ready to defend them in case of an attack,” He whispered. However, in even whispering, Ludwig could intimidate some of the boldest. He glared with an icy stare down at Feliciano who coward back, “with an attitude like that I’m afraid you won’t be defending anyone,” He dropped Ludwig’s hand, and lowered his head.

“Sorry,” he whimpered. Ludwig’s gaze softened, and his gut twisted. He shouldn’t have scolded him like that. His tongue felt heavy like a bolder, and though he tried he couldn’t come up with any creative way to apologize. Feliciano was the only one who would willing to talk to him for fun, although Ludwig didn’t blame them. In fact, it seemed like he was a magnet, and gravitated towards him all the time. 

And yes, he was incredibly annoying and inept, but Ludwig didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“Ja, so am I, and I uh forgive you,” Apparently that was enough because Feliciano’s head launched back up, with a smile on his cheeks.

“Ve. I h-“ Before Feliciano could finish whatever he planned to say, a piercing scream ran out, and the intricate music screeched to a halt. By instinct, Ludwig grabbed his sleek gray trident, and cut into the fray. Feliciano followed closely behind him, if only to be protected by him if need be. The Queen of Abyssi was lying in her husband’s arms, and her daughter clung to Prince Matthew with a shaking hand over her mouth. There was a moment of silence before the Queen of Atlantis’s booming voice echoed in the stilled room of unbelieving witnesses.

“She must have been poisoned. No one drink or eat anything else,” she ordered a servant to get the doctor, and turned to Captain Spartacus and Commander Aldrich who also clutched their tridents, “find whoever did this, and don’t let anyone in or out of this room.”

“You heard her! Everyone move!” Ludwig decided that he didn’t like Spartacus’ voice to sound as it did now. He much preferred it when he sounded cheerful and playful. Before when he’d given smaller, more menial orders, he still retained a certain bounce to his demeanor and tone. At first he found it annoying, just like his son, but now, hearing his voice as dark and chilling as the murky waters of the deepest trenches, Ludwig missed it.

Though he would never admit it, this change flipped a switch in him. Though he tried not to acknowledge it, Ludwig felt a numbing emotion for if they should fail.

He felt scared.

.

.

.

He’d been drifting for a day, and he was, without a doubt, far off course. With no map, he couldn’t pinpoint where exactly he was, but based of Polaris, he appeared to be heading east. That much he knew. Thankfully, after the initial storm, the clouds lingered until sunset, producing only at one point a small drizzle which plinked into the ocean and on his face peacefully. It was preferable to scorching sun and the subsequent burns. 

The raven haired did his best to breathe evenly and remain calm. A solution would present itself sooner or later. He was sure of it. To calm himself, he’d tried to meditate, but his aching body prevented him from being entirely successful. 

It was fine. He’d been beaten worse before, and he’d survived that just fine. He’d gone without food and water for longer, and he had pulled through.

He’d been alone in more dangerous circumstances before, and he was still alive.

He just hoped that whatever fate had in store for him would hurry, but he was patient. He could wait.

He pushed himself up ignoring the protests from every inch of his form, and dipped his hands in the chilling waters. He cupped it, and brought the liquid up, and watched it drizzle back into the sea. 

How ironic it was to be thirsty, and yet be floating and surrounded by water

The sea was opaque again. Although it wasn’t because of a deadly storm. Rather, the day had simply ended, and stars shone from their place in the heavens down at him. There were so many. So many stars that shone together through the darkness until the break of day. Unlike the stars, he was alone now. He’d always been a solitary person, but he did have a few acquaintances on that ship. He wondered if any of his shipmates were out there by themselves looking up at the same stars as he was. He wondered if Heracles and Sadik were looking up at the stars too, and if they wondered where he was as he did with them. 

He lay back down, and let his head rest on one of the seats in the boat. His one comfort was that, despite loosing nearly everything with the ship, he still had his one family heirloom. He always kept it in his pocket. The one remnant of his old life. He stuck his hand in his pocket, and ran his fingers over the grooves. In the silence of the night, a single tear fell from his eye as gentle waves rocked him to sleep.

.

.

.

Alfred knew he shouldn’t have left, but he couldn’t resist. The clearing in the coral reef called for him like temptation to a sinner. He needed to belong somewhere, and if it was here, among radiant colors, and near desolate waters, then so be it.

He lay on his back in the sand, running his hands along it. It was much darker now, and the coral wasn’t as bright, and the blue ceiling of the waves no longer looked so blue, but a dark navy, nearly black. Alfred used to love the night. It was dark and mysterious, and easier to hide in than during the day. Night was when he and his friends had the most fun. In the darkness, the coral didn’t look like coral, but a looming monster, reaching a tendril out to catch him. One might’ve thought it was scary, but in actuality, it was so much more exhilarating. Now, all he could see was shadows of the past, and uncertainty and danger in the future. What if the Abyssians didn’t agree to alliance? What if Lemiar won the war? And despite these big questions that everyone in his kingdom worried about, another haunted it's younger prince: What would he do in it all.

Alfred reached his hands up, as though the problems could be solved by something tangible he could grab and hold on to. His eyes slid shut, and he lay there in the sand wishing for a miracle.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw something in the waters above him. It was difficult to make out, but it couldn’t have been an animal because it’s movements were too stiff.

Alfred didn’t go up to the surface often, and never at night. Whether it was curiosity or a small feeling of hope, is up for debate, but regardless he decided to investigate it.

He swam up to it, and brushed his hand along it’s side. It was a very strange feeling. Like that of stone, but not as cold nor as smooth. Alfred scratched his head in thought, and tried to recall any clue to tell him what this thing was. He gave up, and decided to take a small peak of the top.

The first thing he noticed was that, there was something in the night sky. For a moment, he forgot about the object and stared in awe and wonder upwards. He thought that the sky would be pure black without the sun, but in its place was a thousand or more small pinpricks of light. His thoughts began to wander as their light shone down on him. Was the sky really the top of the world? What were those things? The next thing he noticed was that whatever it was that he stumbled upon had no top. He grabbed one edge and pulled it down to peak inside.

He was greeted with the sight of someone sleeping. He had pale skin, raven black hair, and a white uniform. However, what stuck him the hardest was that, it wasn’t a merman sleeping in the object.

He was a human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My head cannon is that Rome and America would be besties if they new each other.


	5. 4

Alfred let go of the side of the boat in shock, and in doing so fell backwards back into the water. The boat jerked causing its sole occupant to wake up, in a bit of a daze. He hoisted himself up to look around, but because he saw nothing, but the never ending opaque water and sky, the raven haired man lay back down.

Underneath the surface of the sea, Alfred could hardly believe his eyes. He pinched himself, and winced. Definitely not dreaming. He put his webbed hands over his mouth, and shouted into them with excitement. His mind left the current day and new discovery behind to return to long buried memories of his childhood.

Little Matthew and Alfred sat on their shared bed. The first was beginning to dose off, while the second was bouncing up and down, and his tail flapped back and forth.

“What happened next Papa? Where’s the locket and mage?” Alfred asked excitedly.

“No one knows, my son,” he smiled sadly, “It would solve a lot of our problems, but perhaps it is better this way,”

“How can you say that Papa?” He threw his arms up, accidentally hitting Matthew in the arm and waking him up again, “If we had it, then the Lemiarians wouldn’t be so mean to us anymore, and then no one would be sick,” his father laughed like he knew something Alfred didn’t, which was often the case.

“It is better to have friends through hard work and compassion, then to make them through fear and submission. While we as a society are not as good at magic as we once were, there are other ways to help the sick,” he gently maneuvered both of his sons to lay down, but Alfred bolted back up.

“One day, my friends and me will find it and be the best heroes ever,” he said very seriously.

“Enough of that,” his mother swam up to their bed, “that locket is just a story,” she glowered at her husband, “A story about how power corrupts,” she pushed Alfred back down.

“But, what about the humans?”

“If we had a civil war, that split apart our great kingdom, then humans must have destroyed themselves. They are infinitely more violent then we are,”

“But!”

“Go to sleep, or no dessert tomorrow,” His mother shook her finger, and he gasped. Alfred roughly tugged the blanket over his head. Before his father left he whispered to him.

“Remember, treat everyone as you’d treat them, human or otherwise,”

The memory faded, and he was back in the dark open sea. He swam around underneath the boat. How would he treat a merman he found in a situation like this? For starters, he would dump him back into the water. Then, he would take him back to his castle, and get him medical attention if he needed it, and food. However, these ideas wouldn't work with a human. He tried to go back to that vivid memory or maybe something similar to help him, but his mind drew up nothing. Nothing, but basic human facts everyone knew:

1\. They breathe air, not water.

2\. They live on land.

3\. They can't swim.

4\. They are dangerous regardless.

5\. The worst kinds, "pirates" go through the water in gigantic things called "ships", and follow no laws.

6\. They are not real.

Mostly, the stories of humans were used to ward children off from traveling far out of the boundaries of their kingdoms, and going up to the surface. For the most part, once they were old enough to figure out that humans weren't real, they were also old enough to know that other dangerous things lurked about. However, he had always been one to push borders, and what if the phenomenon of those wrecks, made of the strange material and descending from above, were "ships", not contact from the afterlife like he'd been taught. He'd never been to one, but from what Spartacus had told him, it seemed to be. Maybe this was a mini ship.

Alfred frowned, and his eyes narrowed. It just didn't make any sense. The only humans he knew of that ventured into the sea were pirates, but they traveled in packs and the human sleeping above him couldn't be a pirate. Pirates were ugly, scary, and missing different parts of their bodies, like their eyes and hands. The human above him was rather handsome peaceful looking, and he couldn't pose any danger to him without a ship or land. So, where anyone one else would've been very cautious, Alfred threw it into the wind.

He popped up above the water, and approached the boat. As far as he was concerned, this human needed help, and everyone deserved help when they needed it. He reached in and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Hello human! As Prince Alfred of Atlantis, it is my pleasure to rescue you. Consider yourself in the presence of a hero, and no doubt saved," the human awoke once more, and upon seeing Alfred's scales and and webbed fingers jumped into a sitting position.

"W-What?" he was sure it was just fatigue and stress getting to him. His head spun and his vision blurred, most likely because of dehydration, but he forced himself to sit up straight.

"I said, 'Hello human! As Prince Alfred of Atlantis, it is my pleasure to rescue you. Consider yourself in the presence of a hero, and no doubt saved'. I think you might need to get your hearing checked dude. What do humans like yourself eat?" Alfred scanned the inside of the boat.

"This is it. I'm going crazy," The raven haired man whispered. He put his hands over his face, and sucked in a deep breath. Slowly, he removed his hands from his eyes, and was met with the so called 'Prince' still there. His hands dropped to his lap, and his head lowered. He really needed food and rest. Alfred interpreted that as the human being scared of him. Maybe human children were told merfolk are dangerous too.

"Don't worry dude, I'm not gonna hurt you," he lowered his voice to match the human's tone. He had a very loud voice by merfolk standards, maybe all humans spoke softer, "I'm a hero after all, but ah if you want me to leave-"

"W-Wait!" He paused, and glanced upward at him, "Do you know where the nearest mainland is?" he finished hopefully.

“It’s really far, and I gotta head back to my place,” he looked out to the sea, "but there's a teensy island near here. My people don't go outside the borders of our kingdom, and as far as I know there aren't any humans there so you'll be alone. If you don't mind that, then I could drop you off there for the night, and take you to the mainland tomorrow,"

"Alright," he nodded. Alfred swam to the back of his boat, and pushed the front slightly to the left, dipped back under, and appeared once more in the back of the boat and pushed it. The boat cut through the dark waters like a knife, and a brisk wind blew on their backs, as though it was giving them an encouraging push forward.

”Do you have a name?” Alfred asked. He had many more questions, but he could see, that despite how the human kept his head up, and back rigid, he was very tired.

”Oh. My apologies,” he squeezed his eyes shut. How dense was he to forget simple pleasantries? “My name is Kiku,”

”Kiku, huh?” 

"Yes," He turned back to look at Alfred with deep chocolate eyes. Alfred felt his face heat up, and he laughed to try to hide it. Hopefully humans didn’t have night vision as good as merfolk.

"Well, Kiku, I think it suits you," Alfred lowered his head to focus on pushing the boat, and hide his very un-princely blush. Under his breath he repeated the name a few times. Kiku was such a nice name.

Just as Kiku didn’t see his blush, he didn't see his mouth twitch upward. 

.

.

.

"She's dead, my Queen, and there's nothing we could've done," the doctor took his fingers off her wrist, "Look, her gills are already starting to darken," The Queen of Atlantis' frown deepened, and she looked around the room, occasionally making eye contact with one of her subjects. They all seemed to hold the same question, as she herself did: What next? And just like her subjects she had no idea.

The room was under a spell of silence, and it would only be broken by whichever ruler, chose to speak first. The Atlantians looked around at each other, their gazes full of suspicion. Who would've done such a terrible thing?

The king was bent over his wife's body, but suddenly rose once more. His eyes were as dark and deep as the trenches from where he and his people came from. He locked eyes with the crowd surrounding them, and his face and posture was so stiff that he resembled stone.

"I'll have you know that what has happened today is unforgivable,” his voice boomed and echoed through the room, “and I, in good conscience, can’t allow this alliance to progress unless the the assassin is been caught,” his words rung out and shook the very bones of everyone in the room, “Until that day comes, and I have solid proof that it is indeed the true killer, you,” he spat looking in Ludwig and Feliciano’s general direction, causing the latter to flick back and the former to lift his chin up, “Atlantians, have a new enemy,” he paused long enough for the crowd’s eyes to leave him, to stare in horror at one another, “Abyssi has been in isolation long enough, that much is true, but whether we come out of it by making an alliance with you is another matter,” he beckoned his guards forward, “My daughter and I shall leave in the morning. Should another assassination attempt be made,” he leaned close to Queen. Causing the Atlantian guards to reach for their tridents, “the Lemiarians will be the least of your concerns,” he leaned down and tenderly picked up his wife’s corpse, and briskly swam out of the hall, surrounded by guards.

Princess Katyusha squeezed Matthew’s hand, and looked at him with tear filled eyes once more, before swimming out with her father, and their entourage.

The doors slamming shut behind her wasn’t as loud as the king’s voice, but it was definitely more jarring. It snapped them out of the daze they’d been in, and confirmed that what just happened really occurred.

”Commander Aldrich,” The queen was the first to recover, and as soon as she began, everyone else started whispering to each other, “is everyone who attended the party accounted for?” She turned to face the blonde merman next to her.

”Everyone but your younger son, my queen.”

”Are you saying he did this?” Her voice shook.

”As far as we know, it could’ve been anyone. Prince Alfred is the most likely suspect, because he isn’t currently here, but the doctor told us that the poison used is very,” he paused, “unpredictable,”

”How so?”

”It is almost impossible to know at what point exactly she ingested the poison without an autopsy, and seeing as how we are most likely not going to get her body back I cannot say for certain when she was poisoned. It could’ve happened four hours to about six minutes ago,” the doctor said gravely.

”At least we know whoever did it is in this room,” Spartacus put a hand on her shoulder.

”What about the prince? You cannot dismiss the fact that he has mysteriously left the hall prematurely, and right before the Abyssian queen succumbed to the effects of the poisoning,” Aldrich glared at him.

”True,” Spartacus said frowning. He retracted his hand, “but what motive would Alfred have for killing her? How could he have known at exactly what point she would’ve died? And on top of that-“

”Gentlemen!” The queen floated in the middle of the two, “we can debate on if my son is guilty or not after we find him. I still want guards all around this room, but send your sons to get Alfred,” she turned to face Spartacus, “Captain, you were talking to him right before he left the room. Did he mention where he was going?”

”To see the king, your husband,” he ran a hand through his curls.

”Send your son and Aldrich’s to escort him back here.”

”Yes, my queen.”


	6. 5

Ludwig and Feliciano swam side by side to the king’s bedroom. Feliciano was, for once, quiet, but was shaking so hard that he kept dropping his trident. This made process slower then it normally would’ve taken them, but Ludwig for once couldn’t find it in himself to yell at the smaller merman.

They stopped just outside the large door. Ludwig shyly put his calloused hand on Feliciano’s shoulder, like Spartacus had done numerous times to him. He stiffed and stopped shaking, but remained silent.

“I don’t understand,” he finally whimpered.

“Neither do I,” Ludwig admitted, “Whatever happens, we have to stay strong, loyal, and obedient to the crown,” he opened the door. They both sucked in a huge breath, and slipped inside, and closed the door behind them.

“He’s not here,” Feliciano whispered. Ludwig was about to turn around to leave, but Feliciano swam past him further into the grand bedroom.

“Excuse me!” Feliciano brightly called out, and swam over to the edge of the king’s bed, “Your majesty? Have you seen Alfred?” He lightly tapped the king on the arm. Who, up until this point, had only been vaguely aware of their presence. At the sound of his voice, the Atlantian king’s eyes sharpened and he turned his head to face the younger merman with a frail smile.

“Feliciano!” Ludwig grabbed him and pulled him back, and was about to scold him when the king spoke up.

“No, no Ludwig. It’s all right,” the king wheezed, “Have I,” he coughed into his arm, “Have I seen who?”

“Al-“

“You see your majesty,” and before Ludwig could stop his partner, words fell and crashed down on the king’s ears from Feliciano’s mouth like tidal wave. He recounted everything that happened for the feeble king, with a few unnecessary details added in, “and so, now we’re here looking for Alfred,” he concluded proudly. Ludwig hummed in approval. Even if he didn’t exactly want to wake up to ill king, Feliciano’s attention to detail impressed and surprised him greatly. Not that he would say that out loud right now, they had orders to carry out.

“He was with me at some point,” he put a skeletal hand to his forehead, “but Alfred would never,” he tried to sit up, but ultimately fell back down and started coughing again. The two guards glanced at each other with concerned filled eyes, “I’m sorry, I don’t recall when he left or where he went,”

”I think I know,”

.

.

.

”Oh! Why would anyone willingly come this far into the reef? Especially at night! Are you sure this is where Alfred went?” Feliciano glanced over his shoulder for the umpteenth time since straying into the darkened reef, “I don’t like it here,”

”For the last time,” Ludwig grit out, “if he isn’t here then I have no idea where else he would be,” Even the stoic blonde had to admit that it was eerie here in the dead of night. The once vibrant colors and fish that shimmered brightly in the sunshine were no where to be seen. What was left was just dark shadows that loomed over and around them. There was no noise, but Feliciano’s chattering teeth and nervous humming. Ludwig used to prefer quiet, but after all he’d been though, all the silence he’d been doused in, he would readily accept noise’s companionship.

It was very strange. Strange how he hadn’t been back here in about eight years, and yet something in him, a muscle memory probably, guided him through the darkened ocean thicket. Everything was exactly as it was when he’d left it, with the exception of the darkness of course.

Deep down, despite the sheer unlikelihood, he hoped that his brother would be here. That somehow the search parties had missed him, and he had stayed here, waiting for him to come back and apologize. Then they would make up, and Ludwig could rest easy at night knowing that Gilbert didn’t hate him.

Ludwig came to a stop in their meeting spot. His eye’s darkened and shoulders slouched.

”Of course he’s not here, idiot,” he said to himself.

”What?”

”Nothing,” He had to stop talking to himself, “just that he’s not here,”

“Who’s not here?” Feliciano screamed and flew behind Ludwig who stabbed his trident at the voice, “Yo, chill! It’s just me, dude!” they looked down to see Alfred’s silhouette crouched in the sand with his hands over his head.

”Alfred!” Feliciano swam down and bear hugged him, “Thank goodness we found you! This place is very scary!” He swam back up and patted Ludwig in his bicep, “It’s a good thing Ludwig can protect both of us now!” Feliciano’s eyes darted back and forth between them waiting for someone to speak up, “Of course,” he continued, not sensing the tension between them, “You seem just fine. So, I guess aside from the dark and being out so far,” his voice hitched a bit, “we’re fine!”

”Yeah, we’re fine,” Alfred said glaring at Ludwig, “Totally fine,”

”Ja,” Ludwig clipped mirroring Alfred’s gaze.

”Okay, you guys are freaking me out!” He waved his arms around frantically, “Snap out of it!”

”I’m assuming you’re here to escort me back to the castle,” Alfred turned around, “Let’s just go,” Alfred began to lead the way out through the dim and darkened coral with Feliciano and Ludwig close behind.

”There’s something you need to know,” Ludwig stopped, and stuck his trident in the sand.

”Really?” Alfred turned around, “Is it that the queen is mad at me for sneaking out,” he shrugged, “no one seemed to miss me. Even if I don’t see the problem with it, I expected as much, Lieutenant.”

”The problem with,” Ludwig cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had to pick and choose his battles, “never mind. The point is that while you were out here living childish fantasies, the queen of Abyssi was assassinated. There are some who think you did it, and now the alliance is comprised,” Ludwig crosses his arms over his chest. Alfred floated there, dumbfounded for a few seconds.

”You know I would never,” his eyes narrowed.

”I never said I believe you did it,”

”But I know you, Ludwig. You’re just looking for a reason to get me screwed,” he swam up to him, “Don’t deny it. Why don’t we settle this,” Alfred poked him in the chest, “right here? Right now. Hero against guard!”

”There you go again,” Ludwig’s stoic facade slipped off, and underneath was clear fury written across his face, “You never change! Never grew up! You are the prince,” he swam a bit higher and glared down, “you need to start acting like it. You are no hero. You’ve never done anything heroic. At least Matthew-“

”Oh here it comes!” Alfred chuckled, “Matthew is so much better behaved!” his voice rose, “Matthew is so much smarter! Matthew can sit still! Matthew this and Matthew that!” He ran his hands through his hair, “Be more like Matthew! You and my mom should just start a ‘hate on the hero club’! Well, I’m sorry I’m not exactly like the better twin,”

”I never said any of those things!”

”But you were thinking it!”

”You have no-“

”ALFRED! LUDWIG!” Feliciano cried out, “Please stop,” he rubbed his aching eyes, “you’re both my best friends! Please don’t fight,” he trailed off. The other two looked at each other, then back to Feliciano a few times.

”He’s right. That was stupid and things got out of hand,” Alfred turned away.

“ Let’s go,” Ludwig ripped his trident out of the sandy ground sending grains into the water around them.

”Aren’t you going to apologize to each other?” He asked hopefully. They both grunted clearly insincere apologies at each other, but it was enough to placate the auburn merman. They both were mute for the rest of the trip back, unlike Feliciano, who clearly didn’t understand that they were both still miffed at each other, and prattled on about God knows what.

.

.

.

Back on the island, Kiku sat beside a blazing fire cooking a fish Alfred gave him before he left.

”Humans eat fish?”

”Sometimes,”

”Huh, your teeth don’t look sharp enough to get through the bones,”

”W-What?”

”How do you eat the bones?”

”We don’t,”

”What do you do with them?”

”We cook them,”

”Cook? Sounds boring and slow,”

He turned the fish over on his makeshift spit and watched it sizzle over the flames in the smoke.

”Not really. I’m not the best at it, but we use fire to make it easier to eat. Then we take the bones out,”

”Fire? What’s that?”

”I’m sorry. I should’ve realized you wouldn’t know what fire is. It’s like...it’s sort of...hot. Very hot. It can be dangerous, but now when you’re careful,”

”Oh so like our vents! Under water we have these places where it’s really hot and kind of toxic, but it’s where we bend metal to make stuff,”

”I suppose it’s like that,”

He remove it and removed a knife from his pocket to remove the scales. Once they were in a pile to his left, Kiku used his fingers and the knife to take pieces of the fish off the bones and into his mouth. It was very undignified, but it was really good. That could be because it was the first thing he’d eaten all day, but he wasn’t in the mood to question it.

He looked out towards the horizon. It could be past midnight, though he had no way of knowing. He tossed the picked fish bones aside, and got up to get some more wood for the the fire. Kiku stumbled towards the tree line, and broke off low hanging branches. As he went about this, his hunger now satisfied and mind clearer despite lingering exhaustion, he wondered if Alfred was real or if he dreamed or hallucinated the whole thing. And if he was real, would he come back?

Kiku padded back through the sand, and put his haul by the fire, and curled up with his jacket. He stared into the fire and watched as the licked up into the air leaving smoke in their wake. Despite how tired he was, he was restless and couldn’t sleep. The merman prince he ‘met’ kept invading his thoughts in one way or another. And what was more bizarre still, Kiku didn’t mind. Normally, he preferred to be quiet with a clear mind. If he were given the choice to be by himself, he would take it. He’d always been that way, and maybe he regretted not spending time with certain people, but it was far to late to change his ways.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and let the peaceful rumbling of the ocean and crackle of the fire lull him to sleep again.


	7. 6

“Until the trial three months from now, Ludwig and Feliciano will be accompanying you everywhere you go. Do you understand? Any attempt to shake them loose or leaving the castle, will result in you getting held in the dungeon for the foreseeable future. Have I made myself clear, Alfred? I won’t tolerate anymore of this from you,” Though his mother’s voice remained steady and still, it had an underlying chill that froze the most unruly and rebellious souls to their core. It made you listen to what she had to say, and want to press your face into the ground below her. However, Alfred had grown up with it and without her favor, and wasn’t so shaken. However, it had been a long night, and nothing would be gained by fighting. His fingers tightened around his gold key, and he bit back and the rising urge to rebuke her.

”Yes, mother,” he glared daggers at the quartz floor beneath her.

”That will be all,” she turned her back on him to gaze out the gaping window. He stuck out his tongue at her, and left the room with Ludwig and Feliciano close behind him.

”You are so childish, Al-“ Ludwig began to scold him, but was cut off by Feliciano who looked ready to burst at the seams of his nonexistent self control.

”Oh yay! This will be so much fun! Think of all the fun we’ll have! It’ll be a huge sleepover, and maybe Matthew could sleep in your room too! Wouldn’t that be great? We could stay up late and tell secrets,” No one tried to interrupt the steady stream of words coming from Feliciano’s mouth, but just let it roll over both of them. It was either that, an incredibly uncomfortable silence, or another argument between Ludwig and Alfred, “but not scary stories because then I won’t be able to sleep. Unless you want to, then I’ll just cover my ears. It’ll be like being little kids again! Of course we won’t keep you from your duties, but when you have free time you took take us back to that cool spot in the coral. But definitely during the day, because it was very, very scary at night!” He wrapped his arms around both Alfred and Ludwig startling them both out of their inner thoughts, “I know that you both haven’t gotten along for awhile, but I think the Queen is just trying to fix your relationship! Hopefully now I won’t have to try and stop you from having your mean staring contests!” He seemed to wait for a response from them, and his head darted back and forth between them.

”Ja,”

”Totally, I love the way that sounds!” Alfred and Feliciano began to prepare fun activities they could do together leaving Ludwig in a stream of bubbles behind them. Ludwig wasn’t exactly Alfred’s biggest fan, but even he had to admit that his resilience was impressive. Although he was outwardly indifferent, or at least he hoped, and he raised his hands to his face to make sure of that, he was internally steaming. This wasn’t fair. Ludwig didn’t train for so long and hard just to babysit the wayward prince, but orders were orders, and he had no choice in the matter. He swam quickly to catch up to the both of them through the polished hallways that slowly began to glow brighter, as above their watery ceiling, the sun rose above the horizon.

.

.

.

Kiku was roused from his slumber by voices shouting in the distance. He sat up, and looked out into the ocean, where the sound seemed to be coming from. Much like the in the night, the sky was still clear with only a few stray clouds, and the ocean was calm. He raised a hand to shade his eyes from the glowing sun. A large ship was lumbering from the horizon. It’s bow cut through the waves, and it’s sails billowed in the wind. What really stuck out was at the top of the ship above the crows nest. A smaller flag that was barely visible. It was black in color, and at the center was stitched a stark white skull with cross bones.

How or why pirates were here didn’t matter, but Kiku had heard enough horror stories to know that sticking around was a terrible idea. He kicked sand on to the smoldering remains of his campfire, and tied his jacket around his waist. He pulled the life boat further up into the tree line, even though it was difficult through the sand. His body howled at him to stop and lie down again, and his stomach growled from hunger.

He slumped down against a fairly large and luscious tree, and tried to hold back a coughing fit. He leaned all his weight on to the trunk, and put his hands over his face. How was it possible that life managed to screw him over so much in only a short amount of time?

He must have sat there for a long time, because the sun was no longer just peeking up at the world, and was a tad higher set in the sky. When he took a risk and glanced around the tree again, some were on the beach, just getting out of lifeboats. Who he could only assume was the captain was barking orders. He wore a blood red coat, and a black hat with a thick plume of white feathers. He couldn’t discern anything else about him because his back was turned to Kiku. There were about 7 others there with him too. Kiku squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to focus on his breathing.

Before he could open his eyes again, and make a plan, he was roughly pulled upward, and something cold was roughly pressed into his temple. There was a ghastly pale face obscuring his line of vision.

”See Antonio? I told you there was someone on the beach,” he tore his eyes away from the pirate’s pale red eyes. To see another one behind him, “My awesome eyes miss nothing,”

”Gilbert! We’re not supposed to-“ he cut himself off, apparently unwilling to finish the sentence.

”You’re no fun,” he rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t going to kill him,” he lowered a silver pistol down to his side, and tucked it into a leather hostler, “Just rough him up a bit,” he laughed a shrill laugh and lowered Kiku. His hand still stayed locked on his shirt, “Besides, look at him! He’s to weak to fight against me!” He suddenly shoved him back, and he fell back against the tree. He would not give them the satisfaction of seeing him fall, so dispute his buckling knees he raised his head to stare down the barrel of his gun, “You’re gonna come to our ship and be our guest!” They both laughed, and Antonio reached out and gripped his arm, while Gilbert pressed the gun into his back.

”Don’t worry amigo! You’ll be served the finest food we have to offer,” he flashed a smile. Kiku couldn’t tell him he was being sincere or not so he kept his dark eyes forward.

”What do yo think Fran’ll make tonight?”

”Hopefully something with tomatoes,”

”You always say that!” They came out of the tree line, and saw another group of pirates taking down one of the largest trees. There was a crack and then a boom as the tree fell.

”So, here’s the guy I saw. Most likely part of a cargo ship’s crew that got wrecked,” Gil’s voice changed from pure joking to slightly serious. Kiku turned his head away from the logging, and met the Captain’s blazing green eyes.

”Put him in the brig for now,” he inspected Kiku, “and get the man some food,” he looked back to Gil, “He’s your responsibility,” Gil sputtered about how he had better things to do, “so you better not screw up,” he got close to Kiku’s face, “Try anything funny, and you won’t like what happens. Understand?” Kiku nodded. Being cooperative might be the only way to get out of this alive, “Good. I’m Captain Kirkland, and what should we call you?” He stepped back from them.

”Kiku,” he replied and bowed his head.

”I like you Kiku, and that’s good for you. You have manners,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “Unlike those barbarians,”

”Not cool, Artie,”

”I told you not to call me that!” He squeezed his nose in frustration, “Just take him to the ship,” They howled with laugher behind Kiku, and urged him forward.

“Don’t worry, Keeks!” Gilbert grinned.

”Actually it’s Kiku,” he mumbled.

”Whatever. Don’t worry about Artie. His bark’s worse then his bite. Hell, I think that’s true for a lot of people here! Not me of course. As long as you do what we say, ain’t nobody’s gonna hurt you,”

”You’re pirates,” he said and they led him bellow the deck.

”Life dealt us an unfair hand,” he retorted bitterly, and Antonio’s grip on his arm tightened, “but we were too awesome to let it get us down! Almost no one here became a pirate because they wanted to,”

”Arthur and Elizabeta are a whole other story,” Antonio smiled, “and who knows, maybe you’ll want to stick around too! If Arthur of all people likes you, that’s definitely a good sign,” he patted Kiku’s arm, “You’ll be outta this room in no time. We’ll be back with your food!” He nodded and watch them leave the cell and lock it behind them. He sat down on the wooden bed, and rubbed his sore limbs. Whatever the future with these pirates had in store it certainly didn’t seem so bad anymore, especially because he hadn’t been abused or killed yet. Maybe they really weren’t that bad like he’d been lead to believe. He’d been faced with a lot of situations recently that caused him to re-examine what his preconceived notions of many things had been.

His mind again wandered back to the Atlantian prince, and what he would say in a situation like this. Probably much more then Kiku. Maybe, he would’ve been able to talk his way out of it. Just listening to his voice on the boat ride over to the desolate island, was calming yet riveting. It was a voice that some may call irksome, but Kiku thought that it was very nice and pleasing to listen to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t abandon this fic! I forgot my password for my account lmao.


	8. 7

“Alright, I know this is gonna sound really suspicious, but I, and by extension you, have leave within the next hour or so, and we can’t tell anyone,” Alfred blurted once they were in his room. Ludwig could feel a migraine being to grow behind his eyes. He wasn’t even a day into this, and he already wanted to tear his hair out.

“Are we throwing a surprise party?” Feliciano clapped his hands.

“You’re right it does sound very suspicious,” Ludwig ignored Feliciano’s outburst, and swam forward into the room. It was messy, and there were things everywhere. How he managed to find the door every morning must be a blessing from Neptune.

“Can’t you just trust me for once, Ludwig? We'll be gone for awhile, but it’s relatively simple,” seeing his unimpressed face he continued, “Listen,” Alfred sighed, “princes and heroes always keep their promises, and well, I’ve got a promise to keep. Besides didn’t you say I need to be a better prince?”

“What exactly does this promise entail?” He asked with a defeated facial expression that let Alfred know he’d won.

“Alright, you both have to swear on the name of Atlantis you won’t tell anyone. Anyone includes my parents and your parents,”

“I swear!” Feliciano swam closer to him and opened his eyes to wink, “You can count on it!” They both turned to look at Ludwig.

“Well? Do you promise?”

“Come on Ludwig! It can’t be that bad! Maybe, we'll have fun, or take naps, or have a party!” Feliciano grinned. Heat rose like hot vapor in Ludwig’s cheeks. He certainly didn’t trust Alfred. Not since they were kids, but he had a serious problem saying no to Feliciano’s pleading. What was wrong with him?

“Okay, go ahead,” He relented. Alfred’s grin grew wider, and Ludwig felt his stomach sink into his tail.

”Alright, so you know how humans aren’t real, right?”

”Sì. Good thing too. Humans are scary!”

”Dude you’re afraid of everything, unlike the hero over here!” He laughed.

”No I’m not! I’m not afraid of you! I used to be really afraid of Ludwig, but now he’s only scary when he’s yelling at me for being late or messy!”

”Can you just get to the point!” Ludwig cut in louder then strictly necessary.

”Alright, alright! So, it turns out,” Alfred glanced back and forth between them. Ludwig’s baby blue eyes bore into him, and Feliciano subconsciously leaned forward, “humans are real,”

”Oh no!” Feliciano flew backwards, “Are they coming for us? Are we going to get kidnapped by,” he wrung his hands, “pirates? Because if so, I say we leave right now, and get white seaweed flags to let them know we surrender!”

”We are not surrendering to humans because they aren’t real!” Ludwig yanked his shoulder to prevent him from swimming off, “humans are just dumb stories used to scare little children, and apparently you too, away from land,” Feliciano shrunk in on himself.

”No it’s true! I did meet a human. He’s name’s Kiku and he was deep brown eyes and shiny black hair. He’s really quiet, but he seems pretty smart and kind,” Alfred cut himself off, and shook his head. Focus! “What I’m trying to say is that the dude’s really not all that bad, and he’s not a pirate either. I made the promise to him. He needs my help to get back to the shore off the east side of our kingdom, and if you won’t come with me, then I’ll have to go by myself!” He glared defiantly at Ludwig.

”I’ll report to your mother,” he grit out, hoping it would change the prince’s mind.

”Sure! Go right ahead, Ludwig, it’s not like I could get anymore unliked around here,” a dark stormy expression passed over Alfred’s eyes, even though his expression remained unchanged as marble. For a moment Ludwig’s hand itched to grab his trident, but he’s learned the most important lesson of being in the guard was to be patient. Fighting was only an option when it became the only way to solve a problem. Fortunately, before the muscular guard could think of a way to put Alfred down without hurting him, the look in his eyes was gone.

”You’ll come with me, right Feli?” Alfred brightly smiled at him, “And if any humans try to attack you, I’ll fight them off for you!”

”Really?”

”Yeah, dude!”

”Do you think he’d like to be friends?” Feliciano bit his lip.

”I think so,” Alfred nodded. The smaller merman hummed to himself. Ludwig just watched them both, hoping that he would say no to this folly. This was ridiculous. There had to be a logical explanation to this. The solutions he came up with was that either Alfred wanted to pull a prank on them or he was delirious.

”Well, I suppose, we have to go anyway if he's going. Orders are orders, right?” Feliciano turned his head towards him.

”Yeah, orders are orders,” Alfred smirked. Ludwig’s own words were getting twisted against him. He opened his mouth, fully intending to protest about how they were also ordered not to leave the castle grounds, but Alfred was hardheaded, and if he thought it was the “heroic” thing to do, there was nothing anyone could do to talk him down. 

“Fine, we can go, and disobey the queen,” he pressed a finger to Alfred’s chest, “however, if we aren’t back within the hour, I will report it,” he turned to Feliciano, “For once please focus, I don’t want us to get kicked off the guard for messing this up,” they cheered and blew past him like swordfish out the door, leaving him alone in the bedroom. Ludwig put his hands over his face, and groaned. These three months were going to stretch into eternity. He turned and raced after them.

”Hey, slow down!”

.

.

.

”So you’re our newest guest,” Kiku pushed his raven bangs out of his eyes. Standing outside the rusted metal bars was a man with long blonde hair that was held back by a red ribbon, “Lovely to meet you,” he said as he passed a bowl of food and fork through the bars.

”You’re, Fran?” He hobbled over and took it graciously, “Arigatou. I’m Kiku,” being incarcerated was no excuse in Kiku’s book for a lack of manners and if that’s what it took to make the captain like him, then getting out of here might be easier then initially anticipated. He moved slowly back to the corner and began to consume the stew as quickly, and neatly, as he could.

”Francis and you’re welcome. I see my reputation precedes me,” he leaned on the wall opposite the cell. Kiku expected him to leave, but the man’s azure eyes were still locked on him, “I hope you enjoy your meal. I’m sure it is one of the best things you’ve ever tasted,” he flipped his golden hair that wasn't tied back and grinned. Kiku nodded respectfully, and bit a piece of beef. It was good, but he much preferred Sadik’s kofta. Not that he was about to admit that out loud and offend Francis, “I was talking with Gilbert and Antonio. If you want to get out of here anytime soon without joining the crew, you’ll need bail money,”

”There’s no one who’ll pay,” Kiku glared at his hands.

”Are you a deserter? Mutineer?”

”There is no honor in those things,” the thought of doing either made Kiku feel ill.

”Perhaps not,” Francis toyed with a teal amulet around his neck that matched his jacket, “For what it’s worth, I was in your position once,” Kiku hummed and swirled the fork around in the thick broth occasionally it bumped into a stray piece of meat or vegetables. After he shoveled another forkful into his mouth, Francis spoke up again, “Being imprisoned in that cell I mean. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but, I could always talk to Arthur about letting you join us for awhile. Maybe work a bit in place of money,“

”Excuse me, but why are you all trying to get me to join you? Are you low on crew members?”

”No. We’re a fairly merciful bunch. We don’t kill anyone unless they try to kill us first,”

”And you consider that mercy?”

”We’re pirates,” he shrugged, “what did you expect?” He didn't respond, scooped the dregs of what remained of it out of his mouth, and held the bowl through the bars, "You really were hungry," Francis took the bowl, and ran his finger along it's rim thoughtfully, "If there's no one who'd pay to get you out, is the life you want to head back to really worth it?" Francis stood straighter and grinned a charming smile, "Just think about it. Adieu~" He waved and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Kiku jumped up and moved closer to the bars, doing his best to ignore the pain.

"Oui?" Kiku bit his tongue. He was a fairly new to the ocean himself. Kiku lived his whole life in the mountains, and barely ever went near the sea until recently. He wondered if Francis had more experience, or was new on a ship like himself.

"Have you," he continued shakily, "Have you ever seen any merfolk before?" Francis's face turned as pale as moonlight and his eyes widened.

"N-Non, I have not,” he shook his head and grinned, “They aren’t real after all. You were probably dreaming or hallucinating,”

”Right, I do need rest,” Kiku nodded. Francis’ eyes softened, and he wrung his hands. 

”Please get some rest, and relax,”

”Alright,” Kiku sat down again and rubbed his temples. Maybe Francis was right, and he had dreamt up the whole thing, but something about it left Kiku feeling like Francis was hiding something from him. 

Francis left as suddenly as he came, and he made his way back to their small pantry and placed the bowl down. He could clean it later.

He clutched his necklace and knocked softly on the Captain’s quarters.

“I’m busy. Can it wait?” Arthur shouted from inside.

“I need to talk to you,” Francis stepped back. He was about to walk away when the door flung open and he was yanked inside, by a vice like grip on his forearm. Arthur circled around him like a predator, and crossed his arms.

“What’s your problem?”

“Who said I had a problem?”

“I’m not in the mood for games, Francis. You never knock on my door, you just barge in,” Arthur could read him better then he thought, “What’s bothering you?” He asked softer.

“Kiku, the prisoner, he,” Francis bit his lip, “he said he saw merfolk around here,” Arthur let loose a stream of curse words, ran his hands through his wild hair, and knocked off his hat, “I don’t know what to do,”

“Clearly,” his lime eyes narrowed, “Can’t you just turn back into your slippery self and ward your fellow eels away?”

“If they’re from Atlantis they’ll drag my beautiful self off to jail, or worse,”

“Well I don’t know what you want us to say,” Elizabeta spoke up. Francis peaked over Arthur’s shoulder and saw her bent over a map. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, but a few strands hung down. She blew them out of her face, and moved the compass around the paper sea.

“Well clearly we have to think of something. It was hard enough to get you three eels stay here without being in constant danger of getting sold for profit. I’m still not sure I should have put the effort in to do so,” he bent down, and fixed his hat on his head.

“You know you’d be lost without me, cher,” Francis winked. Arthur sputtered, and Elizabeta giggled from where she sat bent over the table.

“Regardless!” Arthur through a deathly gaze at both of them. Francis wiggled his eyebrows and Elizabeta deflected his with one of her own, “Any merfolk around here will be in danger of getting caught, and I’ll be in danger of a mutiny,”

“You’ll have me to back you up. After all, everyone knows not to mess with me!” She waved the compass in their direction.

“Kesese! You wish!” Gilbert stood in the open door frame, “Mein sheer awesomeness would overpower you in under five seconds!”

“Does no one here knock?” Arthur groaned.

“Yeah sure says you, but just wait until I get my frying pan,” a barely noticeable flash of fear passed on Gilbert’s face before he smirked again.

“That is not your’s. It‘s just something we picked up in a raid!” Francis leaned back and covered his mouth, watching Gilbert and Elizabeta butt heads from across the room.

“You really think that this is amusing, don’t you?” Arthur rolled his eyes when the only answer he got was muffled snickers, “Of course you do,” he drummer his fingers on his thigh, “We’ll figure something out. I don’t want to give them anymore reason to revolt, but,” Arthur pushed off the wall and turned to face Francis directly, “Let’s just hope that whoever Kiku saw has more intelligence than you and leaves,”

“You wound me, mon coeur!” Francis gasped, and he threw his hand to his chest.

“And you agitate me to no end!” Arthur glared at him.

“But I do love you~” Francis blew a kiss in his direction.

“Yeah, yeah, me too, idiot,” Gilbert and Elizabeta paused their fight to fake gag and squeal respectively. She rolled her eyes and threw the compass like a dart, and pinned Gilbert’s sleeve to the door, and reignited the argument.


	9. 8

“W-What is that?” Feliciano pointed upwards at a ginormous brown thing that casted a dark foreboding shadow above them.

“I think that’s a ship dude,” Alfred leaned backwards trying to take the under side of it all in. He held his breath and swam upward.

“Don’t go near it! It could eat us!” Feliciano covered his face and started shaking.

“Don’t touch that!” Ludwig appeared beside Feliciano, “Neptune knows where that’s been!” He panted, clearly out of breath.

“Hey! Look who finally caught up to the hero and Feli!”

“Ludwig!” Feliciano embraced him, “Thank goodness! You can save Alfred and me from the ship! It’s so scary!” 

“You imbecile!” He scolded him, “It’s just what humans...travel in...” Ludwig trailed off, and his sapphire eyes seemed to pop out of his head.

“Believe me now, dude?” Alfred cheekily laughed as he ran his hands along the underside of the ship. It seemed to be made out of that same strange material Kiku’s lifeboat was. Whatever it was must be abundant on land.

“So other humans found him! We can leave, right?” Feliciano was still shaking and gripping Ludwig.

“Of course not! I can’t leave until I know that he’s in good hands! It’s not the heroic thing to do,”

“I...we should go back and report this,” Ludwig shook his head, and rubbed his forehead.

“Come on, dude,” Alfred shouted down at him, “The one thing I asked you not to do is tell anyone!”

“You said there was one human! Not a full ship of them! If humans are back on the water we could be in danger!”

“What danger? Those ‘are just dumb stories used to scare little children’,” he mimicked Ludwig’s voice and tone. Feliciano tried to cover up his laughter at Alfred’s spot on impression, but was incredibly unsuccessful. Ludwig didn’t seem to notice.

“Old stories that apparently turned out to be true! We need to head, back, report this, and-“

”You didn’t even believe me at first!” Alfred yelled, and they began fighting again. Feliciano was thrown off. He bit his lip and watched them begin to spit venomous words at each other.

Feliciano’s breathing grew heavy and he pressed his webbed hands to his auburn hair. He hummed a lullaby to himself, and let the soothing notes drift around him and wrap him up like a blanket. Eventually, he calmed down, but kept humming. Suddenly a flash caught his attention, and he saw a small school of silver fish. He snuck over to them, hoping not to frighten them away.

“Ciao!” He giggled when a few bolder ones swam away from the bulk of the group to investigate him. He smiled and gave one a gentle pat on its head, “I’ll call you...” before he could think of a decent name to give the little guy, a shadow was cast over his head, and the fish, perhaps sensing oncoming danger, scattered in different directions leaving Feliciano by himself.

”You always do this! What is wrong with you?”

”There’s nothing wrong with me, but there’s clearly something wrong with you!”

He shook his head, and frowned. Maybe if he pointed out the smaller ship floating above them, they’d stop fighting!

”Ludwig! Alfred! There’s a smaller ship! I think maybe your human friend is on it,”

”Not now, Feliciano!” Ludwig spat out. Feliciano recoiled as though he’d been burned. His head lowered, and he could feel his eyes burning from pressure. He tilted his head back up. The small ship was getting closer to the bigger one. The humans might disappear, and Alfred wouldn’t get to keep his promise.

After a split second of hesitation, he swam a bit closer, but then backed off from the two of them when their yelling grew slightly louder. Feliciano looked back down at his hands and scrunched them into fists. 

He’d show Ludwig he wasn’t scared of everything and impress him by checking out the ship by himself. Ludwig would be so proud of him, and maybe...maybe even smile. That thought alone gave Feliciano a fluttering feeling opposite from the clutches of fear. Besides, if humans were half as great as Alfred described Kiku to be, they must be fantastic. 

“Maybe they’ll want to be my friend!” He swam up to the surface and popped his head out of the water.  
“C-Ciao~” he waved to the humans on the boat, and tried not to dip back under out of fright. There were three of them. All looked rugged and fearsome, but he swallowed nervously and continued, “I’m looking for my friend’s friend. His name is Kiku. Have you seen him?” The humans looked at each other and grinned. Their smiles split their faces in half like an axe. Feliciano didn’t like the way they scrutinized at him because their stares made him feel like something was squirming about on his skin. But he was being brave! Ludwig would be so proud of him, and he couldn’t wait to tell his father.

“Sure little fish,” the skinniest one said, “Come in,” he beckoned Feliciano with rough calloused hands, “We’ll take ya to him.”

“Well, maybe,” Feliciano gulped and fiddled with his fingers, “I should go and-“

“No!” The man coughed, “Sorry, no. You see we have a,” he looked at the other humans, “tight, schedule to keep to. We have to hurry or we’ll miss our...um...”

“Party!” The stout one picked up, “We’re going to a party, and we don’t want to be late!”

“A party!” Feliciano clapped his hands. He couldn’t believe he used to be scared of humans. All they wanted was to get to their party, “Well okay! Can I come?”

“Hm,” the third rubbed his scarred chin, “we’d have to ask, but I think so,”  
“Of course,” the skinny pirate began speaking again, and glared at the other two, “but you have to get in our boat first,”

“Okay!” Feliciano happily swam over to them.

“Just give us your hands and we’ll help you up,” Feliciano extended his arms and two of the humans gripped him tightly and pulled him up.  
“Um! Your hands are a bit too tight, and I think you can let go of me now!” Feliciano smiled, and a funny tickle in his stomach was bothering him again. It got worse when the humans pushed him forward and chuckled maliciously.  
“Sorry, no can do, little fish,” Feliciano felt something like a fuzzy eel start to wrap around his wrists. It squeezed his hands together, and he tried to fight against it, but the humans held on to him so tightly that their fingers left purple bruises behind. He tried to call out to Ludwig and Alfred for help, but something dry was stuffed in his mouth. Feliciano tried to spit it back out, but it was forced inside again, “You’re going to get us a lot of money!” Feliciano’s amber eyes widened with terror, and a large hand ripped the trident from his back.  
“Look at this beauty,” the scarred one whistled, and sliced the air with it.

“Keep your voice down! Idiot, if the captain and the three of them catch us we’ll get left here to rot like the prisoner,”

“Well, how are we supposed to get him on board the ship without them seeing him?” a cold hand pressed into his scales and Feliciano shivered, “His tail alone are probably worth my weight in gold,” the stout pirate’s voice dropped with venom and sadistic glee, and Feliciano’s eyes burned again and he began to shiver in fear.  
“You leave that to me,” skinny pridefully smirked, “Both of you start rowing back toward the island!” Feliciano tried to wiggle back out into the water, but something heavy slammed into the back of his head.

“Not so fast fishy,” one of them hissed, and the world around the captured merman was washed away by a thick wave of black.  
.  
.  
.  
“Because you left me,” Alfred threw his arms backwards.

“What is this to you? Some...Some romantic comedy?!?” Ludwig sputtered.

“No, but you were my friend! One of my best friends! We were a team! And then...then you all left me,” Alfred trailed off and looked down on to the sandy ground beneath them. Three crabs scuttled along in a group, probably searching for food. Alfred watched them stumble along without a care in the world. He was overcome with nostalgia.

“You’re always so self centered” Ludwig could feel his control slipping through his fingers, “They abandoned all of Atlantis! Not just you,” he took a breath and continued quieter, “and unlike you and them I know my place in life,” his words flew like a cold spear through the water and made Alfred shiver with their bluntness and truth, “Let’s go, Feliciano,” Ludwig turned around, and began to swim off. He tried to still his shaking hands, and clear his mind, but his head felt like it was filled with sand and seaweed.

“Uh dude? Where’d he go?” Alfred spun around in a circle. Ludwig turned his head and saw that there wasn’t an auburn haired merman by his side. The water surrounding him felt strangely chilly without him, “There he is!” Ludwig looked up and saw Feliciano’s tail swishing back and forth in the water. His upper body must have been above the surface of the calm sea near a smaller object floating on the waves. Before either of the could react, he was yanked out of the water. They looked back at each other for a moment, but that moment ended quickly and Alfred darted over to where Feliciano just was.

“Wait!” A shackle like grip grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down,  
“We can’t just go up there without a plan. We need to think before we go rushing in,”

“A plan for what exactly?”

“How to get him back,”

“What are we gonna do, just swim on up there and be like, ‘Hey could you maybe give us our friend back?’” Alfred bit his lip. It was his fault Feli was in danger. What kind of hero was he?

“We need to lure them into the water somehow, we could never fight them on land,” Ludwig stared out into the distance trying to come up with a plan. How did his father and Spartacus make it look so easy?

“Maybe I could get their attention and bait them back out. They’d try to catch me, and while they’re distracted, you could flip the boat over.”  
“We don’t have any idea what weapons they have. We can’t go in blind!”

“Do you have a better idea?” Alfred snapped, but there wasn’t any malice behind his words, “We don’t have any time,” Alfred pointed to the beach, 

“We’re already too late. The water they’re in is too shallow,” Alfred said defeatedly. Ludwig cursed. Normally, he was attentive and quick witted, but everything about this situation was causing him to flounder with his self-control, and he couldn’t think straight.

“Okay, we’ll have to think of something else,”  
.  
.  
.  
“This is your plan, dumbass? What’s gonna happen when someone comes to give the scum food?” Kiku rubbed his eyes, and glanced down in shock at what, or really who, they threw in.

“It ain’t like either of you could come up with a better place to put it,” While they argued, Kiku stood up from the corner and crept over to his new cell mate. He was unconscious, and bleeding from his tail. Kiku frowned and with only a little bit of difficulty, tore his sleeve off, and wrapped it around his injury. 

Could merfolk get an infection? He prayed this was not the case. The cut tore across his amber scales and made them slick with crimson blood. Who would’ve guessed that merman bled the same as humans? It didn’t look deep enough to warrant stitches, but certainly painful. Although, could one stitch scales? Would that work? He didn’t particularly want to find out. Even then Kiku wasn’t a doctor, he was a sailor, so what exactly did he know?

His eyes softened, and his mouth curled downwards. Humans could drown, and Kiku’d seen enough fish out of water to know they didn’t last long outside their element either. Would the merman suffocate? Was he already dead? He pressed his fingers to his neck, only to jerk his hand away when his fingers went in between two wet flaps.

Kiku mentally slapped himself. Of course he would have gills there. Prince Alfred has gills there too. He scanned the man’s form closely, and after waiting and watching a few seconds there was a barely noticeable twitch of his left hand. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Listen, both of you!” Kiku jumped out of his skin. He’d forgotten they were there, “No one wanted that disgrace as our captain. He has allies sure, like that little bitch,” he rubbed his lanky leg with a look of phantom pain, “but if we can convince the crew to join our cause, we might be able to over power them. One of us could be captain,” he chuckled darkly.

“Aye. Think of all the money we could make on those beauties,” the stout one sneered. Kiku wondered if he was just talking about the merman, or if the three were going to try to sell him on some black market too. He tilted his head up, and kept his face expressionless, in an effort to look less afraid then he felt, but it went unnoticed.

“But the crew like them,” the one with the scars piped up, “Especially Goldie Locks,”

“Leave it to me. There’s no quicker way to a man’s heart then through gold,” 

“Hey, you!” There was a loud clank against the bars of the cell. The skinniest pirate kicked the bars, “If you even think about saying anything, we’ll kill scaly over there, and you’ll wish we killed you too,” the other two nodded gleefully, but Kiku didn’t move a muscle. He just kept staring at them with his dark brown eyes.


End file.
